There are many things that can make a big difference as to how the inside of a home is viewed – the carpet, the wallpaper, the lighting – all key interior design elements. But what about handrails? Their ability to completely transform the feel of a house is something that is often overlooked. Let’s take a look at how one subtle change can make all the difference.

A handrail can be so much more than something to hold onto on the stairs. With so many styles and designs available, installing something new can offer a completely different perspective and allow you to set the tone for the rest of your home.

It’s important to determine the kind of feel you want generate with your choice. A more traditional design can look classy and reassuring. Something more unorthodox will be eye-catching and bold.

If you’re going for a traditional or old-fashioned look, wood is the likely material of choice. There are a range of timbers available, such as pine, hemlock, mahogany, ash and oak, all of which can provide a classy, high quality look to your rail.

For a completely different feel, metallic handrails are another option. These offer the chance to be more experimental with the look you’re going for but have their drawbacks, such as being more expensive than wood and being more difficult to maintain.

As well as the rail, the brackets can also add to the look and allow you to have a stylish combination of wood and metal on your staircase. Chrome is a popular option and very good value as well, though some prefer the old style feel of brass or wrought iron. However, if you’re sticking to the traditional theme, there are plenty of wooden accessories to accompany the rail.

Although style is important, safety is also a key factor and the reason why we have handrails in the first place. So make sure this isn’t compromised when choosing your design. Use it to your advantage making the area that acts as a barrier into a focal point of the staircase. For the really inventive, this is a real opportunity to get creative and come up with something that will really wow visitors, friends and family. For the less daring, you can use it to further enhance the sophistication of your stairs.

There are many advantages to having engineered oak flooring in your home. Its thickness offers great insulation, it is more hygienic than carpet and it also looks incredibly stylish. But what’s the story behind it, and how does it differ from other types of wood flooring? Let’s have a little history lesson and examine why it’s become such a popular choice.

Engineered oak flooring varies from solid hardwood flooring in that instead of consisting of thick, solid pieces of wood, it has a multi-ply layered base with a thinner oak top layer. As only the top layer, also known as the lamella, is visible, it looks just like a solid wood floor but has numerous additional benefits, such as being more cost effective, easier to install and having a greater variety of size.

Engineered Oak Flooring

The first types of engineered wood flooring were created early in the 20th century and were described as “wood carpeting”. This consisted of thin wooden strips, glued to a heavy canvas and tacked to the floor before being sanded and coated with varnish. These early versions were quite similar to the types of laminate flooring you see today with its composition consisting of layers of paper and woodchip.

Over the decades, the processes evolved and better quality wood bases were used, much more like those used today in engineered oak flooring. Today’s engineered floorings 15mm eucalyptus multi-ply bases with a 6mm layer of European rustic oak on the top and a hard waxed finish, and with the increased use of wide plank flooring, its use has soared in popularity. As well being more durable than laminate flooring, with a lifespan of up to 25 years, engineered flooring also fares better in extreme temperatures (hot and cold) compared to laminate and solid wood equivalents, meaning no warping. It is also relatively low cost in terms of maintenance and can be placed over a variety of surfaces, including concrete, unlike solid hardwood flooring.

With its natural warmth and insulation properties, engineered wood flooring is becoming a popular choice for those looking to bring a touch of class to their home. It is suitable for all rooms and is perfect for public buildings and businesses as well. UK Stair Parts has quality oak flooring at a great value price. If you’re planning on purchasing brand new flooring, make UK Stair Parts your first choice.

When it comes to home improvement, the staircase is an area that is often overlooked. Some people simply forget about it, while others just don’t know where to start. Here are some handy tips and ideas for re-vamping your staircase cheaply and easily with UK Stair Parts.

As with any kind of home improvement, it’s important to decide in advance exactly what you want to do. Starting a job without being sure of what you want the finished product to look like is a recipe for disaster, while changing your mind halfway through can leave your home looking like a mixed-up mess.

If you are making improvements to the rest of your home then your stairs don’t have to be left out. It can easily be transformed to fit in with the rest of the changes you make to your home, though you should probably keep your stairs in mind when deciding what improvements you’re going to make, rather than leaving it as an after-thought. This is particularly important if you have steps leading upstairs from your living room, or next to the front door of the house.

While the actual steps are unlikely to change in a structural sense, the other elements can be re-vamped to make it feel like you have a brand new staircase in your home. These components are spindles, newels posts, baserails and handrails. Changing these may seem like a complex task but specialist fitters can remove the old ones and install their replacement parts in a day or two.

How to Revamp Your Staircase Easily and Cheaply

Newels stand at the top and bottom of the stairs, with the newel posts providing important structural stability and the newel caps sitting on top. These can act as the signature of design scheme for your stairs, as they are the first thing people will see when they go up or down. You can go for an eye-catching, extravagant design or something more understated as well as choosing whether to have wooden or metallic newels.

Spindles are the thin vertical posts that line the stairs. As well as providing structural support for the handrail, they are an important safety feature as they prevent people, and especially young children falling through. Despite the safety aspect, you can really put a lot of imagination into the design of your spindles.

Handrails are important in terms of safety as well, but also play a significant aesthetic role. Getting the handrail to look and feel just how you want it can make all the difference to your stairs. Many would say the handrail is the single most important element when it comes to re-vamping your staircase.

Whatever style you decide to go for, take a look around and see what ideas you can come up with. The internet is fantastic for design inspiration and there are countless websites out there with photos and ideas for improving your home.

And now for the opposite to our last post….

If you live in Yorkshire or the north-east of England, there’s a good chance you’ve visited Whitby at some point. And if you’ve been to Whitby, you’ve probably climbed the 199 steps that lead up to the town’s historic abbey.

No visit would be complete without a trip up the famed staircase and many people will have a chuckle to themselves on the way down as they pass children climbing up and counting the steps as they go, mainly because a lot of grown-ups still like to do it themselves! In fact, many would say it’s a tradition.

And while this North Yorkshire seaside town may be known for having the best fish and chips anywhere in the country (not an opinion, but an out-and-out fact), there is so much more to Whitby. The place is steeped in history with settlers recorded as early as the 7thcentury. It was also the setting for part of Bram Stoker’s Dracula – something which has helped to fuel the town’s already-booming tourism industry, thanks to the bi-annual Whitby Gothic Weekend.

The stone steps were built as a means of getting from the town below up to the Abbey and St. Mary’s Church on the East Cliff. A cobbled track runs up the cliff alongside the staircase and was used in days gone by for transporting coffins by horse and cart up to the cemetery in the church grounds.

For the nimble and agile, getting from bottom to top takes just a few minutes (as long you’ve haven’t lost count of the steps and decided to go back down and start again), while seasoned veterans take things at a more leisurely pace, knowing that the reward for those who reach the top is the same for everyone – the stunning view across this beautiful town. Or if you’re below a certain age, an ice cream.

Jamestown on the island of Saint Helena, as we wrote about in a previous blog, might have the world’s longest staircase (a mammoth 699 steps!) but for the sheer history and the ability to completely immerse yourself in your surroundings, you simply cannot beat the Whitby steps.

So whatever your reason for ascending the steps, or whatever number you come up with when you try to count them, just make sure that if you ever spend a day in Whitby, take a trip up that historic stone staircase. Whether it’s a breathtaking view, a bit of exercise or simply an ice cream you’re after, you won’t regret it.

From a few steps to 199 to 699, we can help transform your staircase into something special.

Fancy climbing Jacob’s Ladder? You might have a bit of a journey on your hands! Located in Jamestown on the tiny island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, it is the world’s longest straight staircase with an amazing 699 steps.

Saint Helena is probably best known as the place where Napoleon spent his final days, having been exiled to the island following his capture in the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo.

But Jacob’s Ladder is the island’s other, and perhaps less well-known tourist attraction. Rising 183 metres (600 feet) up to Ladder Hill Fort, the staircase has handrails on either side for most of its length, and more than 200 iron spindles, spaced five steps apart. Given the regulations regarding the spacing of spindles on buildings in the UK, if the staircase was subject to the same requirements, it would need more than 2500 spindles to comply!

The number of spindles probably was at the forefront of the Royal Engineers’ minds when they started work on constructing the staircase in 1871. The staircase began its life as a cableway in 1829, having been built by the Saint Helena Railway Company to transport supplies from Jamestown up to the fort. After its conversion to a staircase, the structure had a whole new lease of life and was instrumental in the building of a new village, Half Tree Hollow, at the top of Ladder Hill. The village has proven so popular that its population now exceeds that of Jamestown, at the bottom of the hill. There have been some safety improvements over the years, with the addition of lighting along the climb, meaning it can be used at night.

The staircase is also home to the Ladder Challenge, a run up the 699 steps, held every two years, with brave athletes coming from all over the world to see who can clock the fastest time up to the top of the hill. In January 2013, the record for the fastest ascent was broken by Graham Doig, a visiting consultant from an engineering firm. He climbed the steps in a time of 5 minutes, 16 seconds, beating the previous record by a single second. The time for the quickest descent is obviously much shorter, especially given the local children’s tendency to slide down the railings!

The ladder can be somewhat deceptive to climbers as the severity of the gradient increases as you get nearer to the top. Indeed, in its list of Ladder Facts, the St. Helena Online web site simply states: “When first-time climbers think they’re halfway up the ladder, they’re not.”

Luckily, home owners (unless residing in a mansion/castle) do not have to worry about 699 steps when it comes to refurbishment of the staircase! However, if this was the case, UK Stair Parts are confident when it comes to the provision and delivery of everything you would need for such a large job. From the average set of stairs to something more complex, we are here to offer advice and guidance. Contact the professionals today!

UK Stair Parts is one of the leading suppliers of staircase components in the country. Manufacturing and selling a large range of stair parts, the company has built a reputation for excellent quality and service. We would like to welcome you to our blog today and encourage you to leave comments and become involved with the posts we bring.

Based in Basildon, Essex, UK Stair Parts is a family-run business with over 30 years’ experience of supplying staircase components. The extensive range includes handrails, baserails, spindles, newel posts and balustrades in a variety of quality materials including pine, hemlock, mahogany, ash and oak.

In addition to the above, we also offer a large range of metal and wooden handrail accessories, including handrail brackets, endcaps and fixing kits. End grain plugs, adhesives and finishing products, such as waxes, stains and varnishes are available. These items complement our stair parts helping to build or finish off any staircase design or structure.

We design and build our own products but if you have a design idea of your own, we can help make it a reality. Just get in touch and we will talk through your design and help you choose the product required.

We pride ourselves on delivering a service our customers are happy with and take on board input to help us improve even further. Here is what some of our customers have said about ordering with us:

“Just wanted to say how pleased I am with the quality of the wood and excellent service you have provided.”

“I would just like to say the service that you receive at UK stair parts is excellent, I ordered my newel posts and handrails etc in oak and they were all ready in 3 days. it’s all fitted now, been oiled and it looks absolutely lovely. Thanks again, I will definitely recommend you to family and friends.”

We are open between 7.30am and 5.30pm Monday to Friday and between 9am and 4pm on Saturdays.